Gold surges past $5,000 for first time
Gold prices have climbed above $5,000 (£3,659) an ounce for the first time on record, extending a historic rally that has seen the precious metal gain more than 60% so far in 2025.
The surge comes amid rising financial and geopolitical uncertainty, including growing tensions between the United States and NATO over Greenland, News.Az reports, citing BBC.
Market sentiment has also been unsettled by trade policy concerns linked to Donald Trump. On Saturday, the U.S. president threatened to impose a 100% tariff on Canada if it were to reach a trade agreement with China.
Gold, along with other precious metals, is widely regarded as a safe-haven asset, typically attracting investors during periods of heightened uncertainty. On Friday, silver also reached a milestone, topping $100 an ounce for the first time and adding to a rally that saw its price rise by nearly 150% last year.
Demand for precious metals has also been driven by a range of other factors including higher-than-usual inflation, the weak US dollar, buying by central banks around the world and as the US Federal Reserve is expected to cut interest rates again this year.
Wars in Ukraine and Gaza, as well as Washington seizing Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro, have also helped push up the price of gold.
One of the biggest appeals of gold is its relative scarcity. Only around 216,265 tonnes of the metal have ever been mined, according to the World Gold Council trade association.
That's enough to fill between three to four Olympic-sized swimming pools. The majority of that was only extracted from the earth since 1950, as mining technology advanced and new deposits were discovered.
The US Geological Survey estimates that another 64,000 tonnes of gold can still be mined from underground reserves, although the supply of the metal is predicted to plateau in the coming years.
By Nijat Babayev
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